Search

EDMONTON, Oct. 15 /CNW/ - Cyplasin Biomedical is pleased to announce it has entered into an agreement for a worldwide, exclusive licensing agreement with Arizona-based C-Pharma, Inc. The license gives Cyplasin the rights to the manufacture and commercialization of certain antiviral drugs for the treatment of hepatitis C virus-infected patients. The agreement also licenses the rights for the development of a prophylactic vaccine (called C-Vaxin) for the prevention of chronic hepatitis C disease. While the financial terms of the license have not been disclosed, the agreement calls for standard upfront licensing fees with a low digit royalty. Cyplasin will also fund an R&D contract to develop the C-Vaxin product line.

The antiviral drugs will initially consist of ribavirin in combination with pegylated interferon and with the brand names of C-Virin and C-Pegferon respectively. "We expect to be able to complete the required studies prior to regulatory approval during 2010, with a target of first sales in mid 2011," stated Garth Likes, President and CEO of Cyplasin. He went on to further state, "these two important Hepatitis C therapies are the current standard of care for chronically infected Hepatitis C patients worldwide and will be offered to these patients at generic price points. The market for these two hepatitis C therapies is estimated at over $2 billion per year. As these two products meet their developmental and commercialization milestones, we will look at new product formulations for C- Virin and C-Pegferon as well".

Dr. Joseph Sinkule, President and CEO of C-Pharma stated, "under the terms of the R&D license, we look forward in not only creating revenue generating products in the near term, but also in developing C-Vaxin for the prevention of hepatitis C infection."

The patented C-Vaxin technology was initially developed at the NIH and has undergone several years of development. The vaccine completed successful and important proof of concept in studies with rodents, baboons, and chimpanzees. "C-Vaxin has been one of the only HCV vaccine candidates to protect against HCV infection in the important chimpanzee hepatitis C viral challenge model, and the next step is to complete the preclinical toxicology studies and then rapidly move into human phase I clinical studies," says Dr. Sinkule.

Mr. Likes added, "we are very excited about the license agreement with C-Pharma as it adds to our mission to generate revenues in the near term while at the same time being able to develop novel and patented technologies which address unmet needs.

About Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C is a major global public health problem. It is estimated that about 4% of the world's population are chronically infected with HCV. Chronic HCV infection can lead to cirrhosis of the liver and cancer. HCV infection is the leading cause of liver transplantation in the USA.

The current gold standard of therapy, pegylated interferon-alpha in combination with ribavirin, significantly improves response rates in chronically-infected patients but does not provide a cure. The development of a long sought vaccine to prevent infection would represent a major milestone in the management of this disease.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements", as that term is defined in Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Statements in this current report which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future.

Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainty of financial estimates and projections, the competitive and regulatory environments, stock market conditions, unforeseen technical difficulties and our ongoing ability to operate a business and obtain financing. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements.

Although we believe that our beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this current report are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act.